Printing-press bed



April 1930. v G. F. BRYANT ET AL PRINTING PRESS BED 7 Filed March 25 1928 W n W w r 4% k 4, a 4 7 5% 0/0 A w r 9 4 l W 4 55 Y m 4 2, WM M I 7 1 A 5 w 9 1 Z 4H. 2 7 ,2, 7 i 42 7 l/ 5 m w a 0 z m 7 W v z fieor f 00 Patented Apr. 1, 1930 PATENT OFFICE GEORGE BRYANT LAND WALLACE S. WARNOG K, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS PRINTING-PRESS BED Application filed March 23,

Our invention relates to beds either of the flat or rotary type for supporting and hold ing printing plates or forms and partlcularly to those beds which are provided w1th grooves that receive the base portions of form or plate engaging clamps that are commonly termed register hooks and which grooves contain elongated gears which cooperate with gear elements upon the bodies of the IQ clamps or register hooks whereby such clamps or register hooks may becaused to travel in the grooves to bring the clamping jaws thereof into or out of engagement with the plates or forms upon the beds.

We form the elongated gears separately from the bed and provide mortise and tenon formations upon the bed and gearsfor assembling these elements. In carrying out the invention, in the preferred way, the

'20 grooves that are formed in the bed are each laterally enlarged longitudinally thereof and at its lower portion, the upper portion of each lateral enlargement having an upwardly extending mortise continuation and the lower portion of each elargement having a downwardly extending mortise cotinuation, the corresponding gear having tenons thatare received in said mortise continuations. Each groove in the bed desirably contains two such gears which are laterally spaced apart, the body of each gear intervening between the teeth thereof and the bottom of the groove to receive foreign matter below the teeth and which may readily be removed from between the gears by a suitable tool. The gears are thus very firmly held in place within the groovesthat receive them and without danger of displacement or dislocation.

i The invention will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawing showing the preferred embodiment'thereof and inwhich Fig. 1 is a'plan view of a portion of a bed together with a printing plate thereon held by means of register hooks or clamps; Fig. 2 is a side view of the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is. a sectional view on line 3.3 of Fig. 1 .on a larger scale; Fig. 4 is a sectional view of'another form of the invention; Fig. 5 is a sectional view, on a 1928.. Serial No. 263,984.

larger scale, on line 5-5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 77 of Fig. 1.

The body of the clamp illustrated is composed of an L-shaped member 1 and a U shaped member 2 one of whose sides 3 en gages the upright side of the member 1. An assembling bolt 4: passes through the ends of the U-shaped member 2 and is threaded into the upright side of the L-shaped member 1. Another assembling bolt or screw 5 passes through the outer end of the top side of the L-shaped member 1 and enters the U-shaped member 2, this bolt being threaded into said U-shaped member. The work engaging jaw 6 is formed with a stem 7 which is journaled in the top side of the clamp body 1. Acam 8 is fastened upon the lower end of the stem 7, this cam constituting a flange whose upper face is in contact with the lower face of the top side of the body member 1, being maintained in this relation by a shoulder 9 which contactswith the top faceof said top side of the body member 1. Such lower face of this body member is raised to a depth less than the thickness of said cam and just sufficient to snugly receive the adjusting plate 10 which is slidable longitudinally of the clamp body. This plate is pressed upon by'a leaf spring 11 which is clamped by the head of the bolt 4 against the clamp body. The spring serves to maintain the reduced end 10' of the plate 10 in engagement with the cam 8. Said cam has two diametrically opposite arcuate dwells 8 that are coaxial with the jaw stem 7. It also has two diametrically opposite concave actuating portions 8 -thata re located between the parts 8 When either of the dwells 8 engages the plate portion 1 0', the plate 10 is thrust outwardly'from the axis of the jaw 6 against the force of the spring 11 and when either cam portion 8 receives the plate portion 10, the plate 10 is moved toward the stem of the jaw by. the spring 11 to the. extent permitted by the cam.

The adjusting plate. 10 is formed with de-' pendingfingers 10 that enter the slots or recesses 12'in the retaining plates 12 which are employedto hold the bodyof the clamp with- 9 more fully described.

in the groove 13 of the bed or form support 14, the plates 12 being movable transversely of the clamp body and being pro ectable laterally thereof at their longitudinal sides n order that they may serve to hold the clamp in assembly with the bed. The upper sides of said retaining plates 12 are formed with recesses 12 which receive the arcuate portions 8 of the cam 8 whereby sald plates are prevented from being moved lengthwise of the clamp body. The slots or recesses 12' in each lected one of the parallel grooves 13 formed in the bed support 14, this groove being of just such depth as to bring the plates 12 into the plane of the slots 15 formed in the sides of the groove 13, these slots being just of Suficientdepth to snugly receive the outer longitudinal sides of these plates when the jaw 6 is turned into a plate holding position, the jaw, in being brought into its plate holding position, forcing the adjusting plate 10 outwardly until its cam engaging portion 10 is engaged by one of the dwells 8. Theplate holding jaw 6 is then held from vertical displacement and close to the work support 14 totake part in holding the plate or work 16 close upon its support.

The clamping device is also adjustable in the groove 13 that receives it so that its location may be readily changed to suit the location of the printing element 16. The clamping device illustrated includes a wormscrew 17 which coacts with elongated fixed gears having body portions 18 and teeth 18, these teeth being adapted to mesh with the teeth of the worm screw, these gears being hereinafter The worm screw 17 is mounted upon the stem of the bolt 41 and is free to turn on and with respect to said bolt stem, said iworm screw being in thrusting relation to the body of the clamp so that when the screw is turned the clamp will be forced to move along the groove in which its body is received. Said screw is turned by means of two intermeshing bevel pinions 19 and 20, the pinion 19 being housed by the body member 2 and rotatable therein while the pinion 20 is directly formed'upon the body of the screw 1-7 .1 The pinion 19 is coaxial with the jaw stem7. Said jaw stem is providedwith acylindrical bore21 while the pinion 19 is provided withlasquare bore 22 that is in alignment with the bore 21. A square wrench may be passed through the bore 21 into the bore 22 in order to turn the pinion 19 to turn the screw 17 and force or effect the travel of the clamp.

In the use of the clamping device, the body thereof is placed in the groove 13 that receives it in close proximity to the work that is to be held, the actual clamping engagement of the clamping jaw with the work bein effected by turning the screw 17 in the manner described.

Each of the two gears 18, 18 in the bottom of each groove 13 is somewhat in the form of a rack, the teeth 18 of each gear being in fixed relation with the bed 14:. These gear teeth are: preferably helica-lly inclined and have their crowns curved upon an axis extending along the groove, the teeth of each of the two elongated gears in each groove being spirally aligned with the teeth of the other sothat the teeth of each aligned gear are, in effect, continuations of the teeth of theother gear in the same groove therewith. In other words, the gear teeth 18are of arcuate curvature, the gears having a common center or axis of curvature which is coincident with the axis of the worm 17. The thread of the worm 17 is thus placed in very intimate contact with the gear teeth 18', the engagement of the worm thread with these teeth being full throughout the arcuatelengths of such, teeth.

Each groove 13 v has two lateral enlargements 23 in its opposite sides and extending longitudinally of the groove at the bottom thereof. The upper portion of each of said lateral groove enlargements has an upwardly extending mortise continuation 24. Referring more particularly to Fig. 3, the lower portion of each lateral enlargement has a downwardly extending mortise continuation 25, The bodies 18 of the two gears received in the bottom of each groove 13 are formed with tenons 26 and 27 which are respectively received in the corresponding 1nortises2a and 25. The tongues 28 which engage the inner upright faces of the tenons 26 prevent the elongated gears from tilting at their upper margins. The ridges 29 at the bottom of the grooves 13 are in snug engagement with the tenons 27 wherebythe gears are prevented from approaching at their bottom sides. Thegears are thus preserved in perfect parallelism with the grooves so that the common axes of their teeth 18 are maintained coincident with the axes of the worms 17 that are in mesh with these teeth. The gears 8 may be doweled to the blocks 14, in accordance with the common practice, if reliance is not to be placed altogether upon'the tight frictional engagement of these gears with said blocks. The bodies 18 of the elongated gears intervene between the teeth of such gears and the bottoms oflthe grooves that receive the gears .toaiford ample space inwhich foreign matter may drop below the teeth. The elongated gears in each groove are sufiiciently spaced apart alongside. of the gears and between them to afford ample receiving space for the foreign matter and to permit of the reception of the teeth for removing such matter. V I

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 4, the ridge 30 performs the same function as the ridge 29 but is separately formed so that it may also serve as a removable key to be used in the process of inserting and assembling the elongated gears.

Changes may be made without departing from the invention.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A printing bed having a groove formed therein for receiving the-body portion of a plate engaging clamp and which has two lateral enlargements in its opposite sides extending longitudinally of the groove vat the bottom thereof, the upper portion of each of said lateral enlargements having an upwardly extending mortise continuation, the lower portion of each of said lateral enlargements having a downwardly extending mortise continuation; in combination with two laterally spaced apart elongated gears having body portions formed with tenons which are received within the corresponding mortise continuations of said lateral groove enlargements, the teeth of each of said gearsprojecting from the bodies of the gears into position {)0 be engaged by gearing upon the clamp V 2. A printing bed having a' groove formed therein for receiving the body portion of a plate engaging clamp and which has'two lateral enlargements in its opposite sides extending longitudinally of the groove at the bottom thereof, the upper portion of each of said lateral enlargements having an upwardly extending mortise continuation; in combination with two laterally spaced apart elongated gears having body portions formed with tenons Which are received within the corresponding mortise continuations of said lateral groove enlargements, the teeth of each of said gears projecting from the bodies of the gears into position to be engaged by gearing upon the clamp body.

3. A printing bed having a groove formed therein for receiving the-body portion of a plate engaging clamp and which has two lateral enlargements in its opposite sides extending longitudinally of the groove at the bottom thereof, the lower portion of each of said lateral enlargements having a downwardly extending mortise continuation; in combination with two laterally spaced apart elongated gears having body portions formed with tenons which are received within the corresponding mortise continuations of said lateral groove enlargements, the teeth of each of said gears projecting from the bodies of the gears into position to be engaged by gearing upon the clamp body.

In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names. s

GEORGE F. BRYANT. WALLACE S. WARNOCK. 

